House of Eck

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

How on earth did I get to be this old? 40 was ancient when I was a kid. Darn near middle-aged! I remember my parents turning 40, so this is surreal.

I'm relieved about excited about my 40s in all honesty. My 30s were a mixed bag.

A recap of a decade.

At 30, Joe & I got married. At 31, I graduated from library graduate school, moved to Ashland, Wi & later that year to Green Bay. I had 2 different professional library jobs by the time I was 33, both of which gave me valuable lessons about working in library-land.

Gave birth to dear daughter Madeline @ 33. She began my lesson in patience & kindness. I started working again in nonlibrary land @ 34. 35 was realitively boring though we did purchase our first home. 36 was the infamous year of the elbow - 1st broke it then later that year had survey. We spent the next year in relative sanity & I returned to libraryland. 38 was the year of the uterus - I had 2 miscarriages & a total of 4 surgeries, ultimately removing the fibroids which were thought to be responsible for the miscarriages. When I became 39, I became pregnant again & since I was high-risk, life became a bit more complicated. I had almost biweekly doctor appointments, & ended up on bedrest for the 6 weeks before Zoe was born.

And now I'm 40. With a newborn. I'll be 58 when she graduates from high school. Zoe & Maddie are 6 years apart in age & their birthdays are 5 days apart. Life continues to move and bring new challenges, but i'm looking forward to this next chapter.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Such a difference 5 weeks makes! Zoe is starting to show personality & rewards our attention with a huge grin. Truly makes any cranky behavior wotrth riding out. She finds her hands every once in a while. They still startle her, esp. when she accidently whaps herself in the face. My 2nd favorite development she's reached is cooing. Zoe'll look at you intently for a few minutes, and start grinning . Then she'll begin cooing. If you are really lucky & coo back, she'll continue coo-talking.

I will post pics soon, I promise. I've re-started this blog mostly cuz I now have a iPod application that is allowing me to peck out blog entries while nurses. I have to say this out loud @ least once: my iPod has saved my sanity over the past few months, and particularly over the past 5 weeks. So when next I have time/energy and get back to my laptop, I'll post Zoe pics. Oh, and when they say there's an app for a particular thing for the iPod, they mean it. It'd be an interesting analysis of apps people use & why.

So, as I slowly begin blogging again, thanks for coming back, hope you and yours are well & happy, & blessed be...

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Monday, January 18, 2010

I've recently spent a lot of time on my butt, trying to make sense of my life. Nothing quite like awaiting the arrival of a baby to take stock of one's life.

Now, Zoe is a month old. We've established a sort of routine, in that I'm on call for her 24/7. Maddie is slowly figuring how to be a big sis. Thankfully I don't have to go back to work til mid-February.

I was a bit freaked the first time I realized I'll be turning 40 with a newborn. I've found a lot of silver hairs on my head lately & my poor body has gone thru so much over the past 2 years.

I've resolved to accept my flaws & embrace my strengths. I'm not perfect. & i'll not ever be 100% fit but I can be the best mom I can be to my girls & strive to be happy.